Secret Santa

A big, American breakfast was in order this morning. I made scrambled eggs with some veggies and cheese, bacon, and pancakes and it was just what I needed!

 My beautiful American breakfast!

I spent my day relaxing - for some reason, this weekend felt like a long weekend (most likely because of the Thanksgiving celebration) and I was not dreading going to work tomorrow.

I ended up watching some movies. The first up was Now You See Me, one of my favorite movies. I sat, drank some coffee and ate my breakfast to it.

While I was watching my movie, I had the chance to finally do something I haven't had time to do in a very long time - write letters! I spent about an hour writing and addressing letters to family and friends back home. Despite my being home in only 20 days, I am hoping it will be appreciated. They're going to be a surprise to those who get them. :)

A bit later, I began The Notebook, but wasn't able to finish the whole thing tonight.

Tonight was Lineke's small Christmas gathering! We went up to her room for some tomato soup and sekt, as well as Christmas music, and just chatting and enjoying everyone's company. We did a Secret Santa exchange. I had Lineke! I ended up doing a craft I found on Pinterest - I decorated a mug and gave her some Lebkuchen (gingerbread cookies) and a Daim Milka bar.

The mug I decorated for Lineke

The mug craft is something that I have pinned a few times with different designs because it is so simple to do and such a nice idea. It turned outlooking great! I was very happy with it. :)

Once the party was done, I went back to my room and, a bit later, Dawn came down for some tea before we headed to bed.

An Evening to Be Thankful For

Thanksgiving. Was. Fantastic.

Everything came together wonderfully and my other thirds (Claire and Tony) were so helpful and organized. Tony and one other person picked up the plates and silverware on time around 12:30 p.m.

While the boys were doing that, I went to Penny to pick up a few ingredients to make a cheesey spinach dish - it turned out pretty good!

Then a few of us met at 1:30 p.m. to get the room all set up - we moved around tables, put up decorations, set the tables, and grabbed the drinks for later. There were just enough of us to get the job done.

I ended up at Reichwein Haus for about an hour before the dinner to hang out with Tammi and Allie. I had to head over a bit earlier in order to make sure everything was in order. People slowly started arriving and, around 7:45 p.m., there were so many people in line for food that it was crazy! There were way more than the 100 that had signed up to attend.

We had turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, corn, and then the side dishes and desserts were all a pot luck situation where, if you attended the dinner, you brought something to share.

We had everything from veggies to bread to soup and everything inbetween. The desserts were just as varied and just as delicious.

Rachel, me, and Chelsea at Thanksgiving dinner. Photo Cred: Chris Ferguson

I ended up picking up what I could with half of the people still around in order to help a bit with the clean up. I then got the chance to Skype my whole family over at my aunt and grandma's house! It was so good to see them all. :)

This year, I am thankful for the opportunity that has been given to me to participate in this German co-op, for my health, the health of my family, and the happiness that I have found in the last few months.

I am so lucky to have found the friends that I have here in Reutlingen. I look forward to many more shared experiences with them, as well as for all of the new students I will meet beginning in February.

I think this quote most aptly describes what the last six months of my life:

"I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I've ended up where I needed to be."
-Douglas Adams

Despite not going where I expected to go, I know that everything in my life happens for a reason; this experience, and everything that has happened thus far, has all happened to shape my future in the way that my life is supposed to go.

It's the Weekend!

My weekend was a wonderful mix of keeping busy and relaxing after a long week.

On Friday, I got off of work a little bit early - there was not too much going on in the office (I had actually gotten some non-urgent work to do in the morning which was a good project!) and Brigitte told me to take the second half of the day off. This was a great day to have some off-time - one of my friends was going through a breakup, so a trip to Penny was necessary for some chocolate and I brought up some tea and Puffs kleeenex. They're a hit here!

I had to leave after about an hour because I had to go and tutor one of the kids. We spent our hour creating a dialogue about school uniforms in English. We would discuss things half in English and half in German. As always, I feel like I am learning just as much as my tuttees are learning during our sessions.

Once I was done tutoring, I walked home to meet up with my friends again. We decided to make some pasta together for dinner and it was fantastic! We got this bell pepper pesto sauce that we mixed with some veggies, canned tomatos, and cream. So good.

My night ended with a movie that I didn't quite make it through.

The following day was a good, but busy one. Saturday morning, I met up with some Valpo students at the Pestalozzistraße bus stop to head downtown for some bowling. I felt kind of bad that I didn't bring a German student, as the whole point was to introduce the Valpo kids to more Germans. As an international office worker and a student who takes no classes with other German students, the extent of my German student interaction is in other student's dorms and in the office when they want to go abroad.

The Germans I did invite were busy this weekend, which was too bad. We still enjoyed our day. I hung out with Daphnie, the resident director's daughter. She is adorable and full of so much life and energy!

Hanging out with Daphnie while bowling with Valpo!

I ended up winning both rounds (in what universe am I living right now?!) and got the second and third highest scores of the day (we played two rounds). I even have proof:

That's right - a 113 and a 117!

After our games were over, Allie and I went to grab some lunch at Alexandre in downtown Reutlingen. Allie recommended this chicken salad that was fantastic and we chatted over lunch.

After that, I took a quick nap and then met up with Tammi and Allie for dinner - we ended up making burgers and mac 'n cheese (a good old American dinner!). I love making burgers, so I was happy to contribute to the dinner-making. We also had our first taste of Glühwein for the season! We picked up some from Penny that was fruit flavored, which made it a bit sweeter. Warm that up on the stove until the wine is almost boiling, and you have the hot mulled wine I've been looking forward to all year.

When dinner was done, a few of us decided to go into town for the Fire and Ice night in downtown Reutlingen. A lot of the shops were open, and there were food and drink vendors in the streets selling their goods. As the theme was Fire and Ice, true to it's name, there were fire blow-up things and ice sculptors in the streets. There were so many people, and it was wonderful to see the city so alive and bustling. 

Fire and Ice in downtown Reutlingen

Glühwein and Fire and Ice

We ended up at the Irish Pub and played a few hands of group 'War.' We had to explain the rules to the international students with us, but as it's a simple game it was easy for them to understand. A 9-person game of 'War' tends to go pretty fast, so we played a few hands and that kept us busy and laughing.

The Irish Pub and some 'War'

Chris and I ended up catching the 11:30 bus back to the university.

The next day was my day of rest - I woke up at around 10:30 and went on to do not too much with my Sunday. I ended up going upstairs around 1 to hang out with Julia, Chris, and Joe. We stayed on the couches in the lounge for about 3-4 hours doing nothing but enjoying each other's company, showing off YouTube videos, and watching winter sporting games.

Being the devout Valpo alum that I am, I showed my international friends Bryce Drew's buzzer beater from '98 and the similar buzzer beater that Ryan Broekhoff made just this past year that pushed us into the NCAA tournament!

It's days like this that I will remember for forever. There is an article about the 10 things about studying abroad and the last one is particularly true - these are people that I will have to say hello to for the first time and say goodbye for the final time all within the course of a few months. I don't know how I am going to handle saying goodbye to these people who have become my family!

A Change in the Seasons

The weather was so strange today - the morning was sunny and the breeze, or rather gusts of wind, were warm. It felt like summer all over again! However, after my lunch break was over for the day, the skies turned dark and cloudy, and the gusts of wind were no longer warm, but chilly. A storm was coming.

After checking the weather and seeing that rain shouldn't be hitting Reutlingen until about 9 p.m., I went grocery shopping as soon as I was done with work so I would make it home well before the rain. I haven't gone to buy groceries in a long time, so this trip was a bit pricey.

The results, though, were worth it. Tonight, I ended up making chili. I don't even really like chili, but this recipe sounded good. The Southwest Meatball Chili recipe I found online included a bunch of delicious ingredients. I ended up putting it on rice and throwing on some jalapenos, sour cream, and cheese, and I got a really filling, really delicious dinner, during which I watched my newest show obsession - Suits.

Only after coming to Germany and talking to international students from Europe have I learned how much I have been missing in terms of American television. Suits, as well as Game of Thrones, Breaking Bad, and The Walking Dead are a few of the shows that I was looked at like I had grown horns because I had never watched them before.

I feel like I am beginning to hibernate - I am eating a lot, sleeping a lot, and holing myself up in my room to watch television. What has my life become?

I had to distract myself from wanting to go to sleep tonight - I was going to Skype with my family back home at 11:30 my time, 4:30 their time, and it felt like the few hours until I could Skype my family dragged on. I had my computer open at around 11:00 and waited. And waited. And waited. Around 12, my mom finally got on the computer.

When I asked what happened, she said that she was on at 4:20 and waiting for me, but I was not on the computer. After a few minutes, we both realized something - while Daylight Savings had happened in Europe this past weekend, it was not happening until next weekend back home - I should have been on the computer around 10:30 my time, not 11:30!

We Skyped for about an hour, and then it was time for me to go to bed.

Work and a Dinner With Friends

Today, my tasks in the office included the Tandem program and updating information for a classroom handout. Alas, it was a much less exciting day than my Wasen experience last night!

I paired and sent out the email to four pairs Tandem partners - I am excited to provide this connection between students and hope that everything goes well with the pairings.

My task that took about an hour of my afternoon was updating a handout that Herr Veit created for one of his classes. It was a handout about the auto industry in Germany and its importance within the country. I had to use the bibliography of the original handout to check each source and see if there were new figures to update the information that the handout contains. It was like a scavenger hunt to try to piece together the source with the information, but in the end, I think I figured everything out. I also included in my email of up-to-date information some of the charts that I found interesting that showed the information. I find I am a visual learner and know that charts would help me to understand.

Tonight was a relaxing night. I ate dinner with Amy, Eric, and Ben. We made burgers, sliced potatoes, and fried zucchini - what a feast! At least by college student standards. Chris ended up joining us later with his own food.

It seemed like everyone was trying to avoid doing homework last night - Julia and Joe joined us after we were done eating. We ended the night with some tea, so very British, and that was that!

The Bodensee Excursion

I went on another fun excursion with the international students today. The Bodensee, or Lake Constance, was beautiful.

We had about a 2.5 hour bus ride to get to Konstanz, which I endured with a chocolate croissant from the local bakery, but it was worth it. It helped that I took a little nap on the way there. :)

When we arrived in Konstanz, we started off the day with a city tour. Well, more like a view of the city. Max, our "tour guide," had only been to Konstanz a few times and did not know too much about the city. It was fine, though, because we had fun just wandering.

The beginning of our tour in Konstanz.

We made our first stop at a fountain in one of the town squares. We took a bunch of pictures and ended up getting separated from Max and the other half of the group.

 

The fountain in Konstanz.

Some of us ended up going on our own way for a little bit once we realized that part of the group had left us. Max ended up calling us and we met him at the Rathaus, or town hall, which was a beautiful, brick building with ivy.

The Konstanz Rathaus

We also got the chance to see the beautiful church in Konstanz. There were some amazing nooks and crannies within the church.

The Konstanz church

At one point I wandered off from the rest of the group and found a nearly empty room that was a lot plainer than the rest of the church, but was just as beautiful. It was in that moment that I felt this amazing connection to God and the wonders that he helped create.

 

Inside the Konstanz Church

It was only when I showed Allie and Sarah this part of the church that they mentioned it reminded them of the set of Harry Potter. Two of my loves, traveling and reading, becoming one!

Max also took us to the top of the church's tower, which offered us a fantastic view of the city and the lake.

The view of Lake Konstanz from the church.

View of the city of Konstanz from the church.

At the top of the church of Konstanz with Allie and Sarah.

Once we were finished at the church, we all went on our own way. Lineke, Tammi, and I ended up going into a fair trade store that we had passed on our way to the church. The coffee from the café looked great there, but we needed to grab some food for lunch.

We ended up finding this café down the road with a great atmosphere and some great food. I got a quinoa salad which was delicious. Tammi ended up getting a chocolate lovers muffin, which was one of the best things I have ever eaten in my life.

It's a good thing we had Lineke with us, because had it been up to me to get us to the meeting point, I would have most likely gotten us lost! We made it to the ferry boat meeting point a few minutes late, but all was well! We boarded the ferry to take us across the Bodensee to Meersburg.

Tammi, Alejandro, Lineke, Allie, Chris, and I on the ferry from Konstanz to Meersburg.

View of Konstanz from the ferry.

 

 

The statue in the harbor of Konstanz.

The wind was a little intense on the ride over to Meersburg...

We started off our adventure in Meersburg by walking down the main road in the city. It was a small town with two big castles (an old and a new) up the hill. There were cobblestone roads, ice cream parlors, and Weinstuben throughout the main stretch, and I got to experience all of them. :)

The main street in Meersburg with Weinstuben!

First, Max took me, Tobias, and Augusto to the meeting point, as well as the rest of the group. We got this great picture by Lake Constance together:

Candid by the Bodensee.

 

Okay, so this is actually the good picture:

Members of the RIO team by the Bodensee.

Then, it was ice cream time. I got a waffle cone with chocolate and chocolate chip ice cream in it, topped with whipped cream. Yum.

We then walked up the hill and just wandered around the city in a small group. We ended up in front of the new castle up the hill, which overlooked the lake and awarded us a beautiful view of the old castle. Allie and I were the only ones who decided to go into the castle. It is Germany's oldest inhabited castle and was really cool!

The Meersburg Castle, founded around the 7th century.

Me with the Meersburg Castle and Lake Constance.

Meersburg Castle

Meersburg Castle

The Hall of Arms of the Meersburg Castle. The armor dates back to the 16th century!

The Hall of Knights was where people took their meals beginning in the 13th century. On the table there is an elkfoot drinking cup. Yes, this is real life.

Once we were done in the castle, Allie and I went back down the hill to check out the Weinstuben back in the lower part of town. We ended up sitting down in one of the tables outside with a view of the street and both decided to try one of the local white wines.

Once we were finished, we met the rest of the group in our meeting spot and headed home! I ended up talking to one of the students from Sheffield named Chris for the ride home. As we were talking, a few others overheard that I was going to make some chicken tacos when I got home. Others wanted to join, and there ended up being me, Tammi, Allie, Sarah, Joe, Julia, Lineke, Alejandro, Emma, Ava, and Chris (people from all over the world!) heading to the Pennymarkt to get some ingredients. We split the costs and it ended up being really reasonable to make a big meal for all of us. :) Oh, and it was delicious.

After we ate, we hung out on the 2nd floor, and then in the Wurm-Haus basement. A few people decided to go to Mexcalitos in town, and I was not one of them. It was then that I realized I did not have anywhere to be on Sunday - why not continue my night! I was awake, despite having an exhausting day, and we headed downtown after we hung out for a while in the basement.

Mexcalitos was hopping when we got there. Everyone was dancing to Mexican music and the line to get a drink was ridiculous. Despite having a crappy waiter, the night went well. I danced a bit with Alejandro and the rest of the group.

Allie and I headed home after a fun and busy day.

A Productive Day

Well, it was bound to happen some time. My alarm did not go off this morning, and I ended up waking up about 20 minutes before I was due in the office. Lovely.

I managed to do it, albeit being about 5 minutes late, but I am pretty proud of myself!

Today was a pretty busy day in the office. We had a lot of students come in to sign leasing contracts with the university, to pay for the course and/or excursions, and to pick up their student ids.

I was in charge of all the people coming in to get their student ids. It was mostly the students that I had met the day before who were coming in, so it was nice to see them.

Once my morning was over, I headed over to the Mensa to get the waters ready. Today, there was another slight change in my duties. I was to pour the waters and put them on trays and then bring them up to the higher level so everyone could grab a water for lunch instead of after lunch. That makes more sense to me anyways.

I grabbed lunch here, again, and ate some pork schnitzel with pasta. The dessert was plums in sauce, and it looked really weird, but had a great flavor! Claudia came and sat with me.

I had time before I had to go back to work and decided to go home and take a nap.

The afternoon was busy again. More of the same stuff, with the student ids, but I also got a new project that I will have to work on for the next few days. Anna-Catherine is having me create a list of students who are receiving a scholarship for studying abroad in an Excel spreadsheet. I think the most difficult thing about this task is that the students fill out the forms that I am to copy the information off of by hand - not everyone's handwriting is very nice, let me tell you.

I also created more signs for the RIO Intensivkurs next week.

One I got home, I had a few work-related tasks to do in the evening. I had a student come to buy bedding from me and had another student come to pick up his keys for his room. I just hung out in my room and finished up some Switzerland searching.

For dinner, I made this AMAZING Spinach Artichoke Dip with a kick! I ate it with chips and some bread and it was wonderful. I am also going to be eating it for days, since I made a whole batch of it. I decided to freeze some of it for later use, and kept another container in my fridge. It'll make a great snack for later.

Work, Dinner, and a Little After-Work Wine

Despite having gone to bed early last, I was still exhausted this morning! I managed to drag myself out of bed and shower, though, and I finished getting ready relatively quickly.

Work was much of the same. Despite hearing about how crazy this time of year is, I haven't been given much work. I did sit down with Karin yesterday and we decided which tours I would go on and days that I would come in early to help, but other than that, I found myself sitting around for long periods of time, not wanting to interrupt the meetings and/or work that was going on around me. Once I finally settle into the office more, I will not have to ask for work as much (hopefully!).

After work, I decided to finally get my passport pictures taken at the train station. The other days that I had meant to go downtown to do this were either rainy or I was exhausted. These passport pictures are necessary for my visa for the city of Reutlingen.

I made it to the train station and found myself in an embarrassing situation, indeed. I got into the photo booth to have my picture taken (for which I actually put on eyeliner...) and found that there was a language button. English is still preferable. I pressed the button and got my instructions in English, which, would normally be an okay thing. Unfortunately, there is only a small, half curtain that covered the entrance to the photo booth and the machine giving instructions was very loud - The machine may as well have been screaming to any nearby German native that I didn't speak German very well!

Despite that happening, I got my photos and went about my day. I stopped at the Geldautomat (ATM), as well as a bakery for a snack (Quark bällchen are pretty good!), and ended up at Müller for some laundry supplies. I also stopped at the Penny Markt on the way back to grab some veggies and other things to make some dinner for the next few nights. I did pretty well today, money-wise. I only ended up spending about 17€ on groceries!

Once I got back to my room, I had my door slightly cracked, as I was going to go start some dinner. Eric ended up knocking and we decided to eat dinner! I bought a zucchini to make some zucchini pizzas, but Eric recommended making zucchini pancakes instead. I was game! We ended up on the 6th floor to make some food and met some people on Eric's floor. They were really nice. I miss that aspect of studying in Reutlingen - I liked being able to meet people easily just by going to make a meal!

Our pancakes did not turn out very well, shape-wise. Taste-wise, they were great! Even thought i was basically just grated zucchini, it still tasted pretty good.

Eric and I decided to go grab some wine and meet up with the rest of the Reutlingen group in a dorm room. We wanted to see if the Edeka Getränkmarkt was open, but, alas, it was not. We were really worried that Penny was going to close before we got there, so we hurried over. It turned out that it did not close until 10 p.m., which is good news. We both grabbed some wine and went back to the Wurm Haus.

The group was playing Kings when we got back and we joined in. Once the game was finished (it was already half over by the time Eric and I had arrived), they wanted to grab some dinner. Campus Kebab was the dinner choice again, and we walked down the road. I was not hungry because with my bottle of wine, I got a delicious German pretzel! I was just along for the ride.

Now, here I am! Hanging out in my room and writing material for my blog :)

One more day of work, and then the weekend is here! Woohoo! Have a happy Thursday, everyone, and a happy Friday to follow.

Oh! P.S. There might be a breakthrough in the loan arena! Hopefully it is good news this time.

First Day on the Job!

Whew, what an exhausting first day! While five hours of work doesn’t seem like a lot, especially with a 2 hour lunch break to split up the time, it certainly has taken a toll on me. Attempting to understand the German that the 5 people that I will be working with for the next year spoke to me today was a job and a half! I asked them to speak mostly German to me because I DEFINITELY want to be fluent by the time I leave. The few moments that they spoke English, though, was like a breath of fresh air. At this moment in time, it feels like I will never catch on, but I will; I have to!

Today’s tasks included getting some paperwork out of the way to get my visa. I also got the Praktikant’s emails forwarded to my Valpo email address so I could answer any questions that get sent my way. Brigette helped me most with my visa paperwork. She is a kind, older woman who seems to know everything!
Karin seemed to be in charge of me more-so than the others. She started having me do tasks today amidst the paperwork. It was kind of funny, because I would begin a task and if I had a question, I would sit there, stare at the wall or my computer, and try to figure out how my question would sound best in German. The thought process, one that I am sure will come more naturally in a few months, was a slow one.
 
My first task, besides paperwork, was to fix a formatting problem on a Microsoft Word document. Not too terribly difficult, despite the drop down menus all being in German. It was a lot of trial and error kind of work, going off of what I know about my English Microsoft Word.
 
The second task was using Microsoft Mail Merge to flow names of future students into a letter to prove that they are indeed going to be students starting in October. Over 100 international students have signed up for an intensive German class beginning in September, so these students need this letter to get their semester bus pass, among other things. Thank GOD for the Intern Handbook, because I don’t know how the Mail Merge process would have gone without the step-by-step instructions included in said handbook. In a month or two I probably could have figured it out, having used Mail Merge in the US, but on my first day at my new internship with the computer set in a language that is non-native to me? Probably not.
 
I was unaware that I had a nice two hour break in the middle of my day, so when Karin told me that I could go for Mittagspause (lunch break) and that I needed to be back by 2 p.m., I was shocked and grateful! It was wonderful having that little break to take a quick nap and eat some food. I lost track of time at the end of my day, as well, and ended up leaving the office about a half hour later than I should. As I’m not on a time card, it’s not a big deal, but I will be checking the time more regularly tomorrow. J

For dinner tonight, I was really feeling some comfort food. I googled comfort food recipes and ended up choosing a home-made mac n cheese recommended by Oprah. It was worth spending 7 Euros on cheese at the Penny Markt!

Yum, baked homemade mac n cheese!



Another relaxing evening was in store for me. Or so I had hoped. I received an email from Sallie Mae today congratulating me on my graduation. This confused me, as they had deferred my loans until December of 2014 the last I had checked. From what I understood, if I was re-enrolled at the university, the university would let Sallie Mae know about my re-enrollment and it would either be taken care of (more likely) or I would have to file for a deferral myself. As all the “begin payment” dates were in December of 2014, I thought all was well - apparently not.

I got ahold of a real jerk at Sallie Mae named John and he, very unkindly I might add, informed me that I probably wouldn’t be approved for a deferral based on my credit load (which is technically .5 credit hours per semester, BUT I am also working AT LEAST 20 hours per week in an internship and that doesn’t include the time I’ll be putting in on the weekends). No matter that I was assured by the woman who is in charge of this program that deferment has been granted for every other intern in the past. No matter that I’ll be taking a class through Reutlingen Hochschule for each semester that I am here. He didn’t care to hear what I had to say. He was snippy, rude, and overall not a very good customer service representative!

As I am overseas, my poor, wonderful mother is now calling professors, the registrar’s office, and the financial aid office for me to try to figure out what the heck is going on and how to fix it. God bless her soul. I’m now hoping that everything will be figured out in a timely manner.

Overall, an interesting day! I had some good moments and some bad moments, and all of that has led me to be truly exhausted by 11 p.m.!

Here's to hoping my jet lag is mostly gone by tomorrow and that I’ll be ready to face another day.

Day #2 - Using My German and Settling In

In trying to get my internal clock back on schedule, I attempted to get up at 9:30 a.m. by setting an alarm on my recently acquired work phone. Mmm nice try, Calie. I ended up actually getting up at 12:30 p.m. Oops! I do believe that extra sleep was necessary in trying to catch up for what I missed last night.

My day was about the same as yesterday! I ended up leaving my room to head back to Müller, as I found out during my "cooking" yesterday, that there was no measuring cup in my little kitchen, liquid or other. What a travesty. I also ended up picking up a new electric toothbrush, as mine from home wasn't working.

 

Another must-get on my list was contact solution. After searching online, I found that the best place to find that in Germany is in an optometrist's office. It makes sense, but that is just not how it is at home! The lovely woman understood what I needed and got it for me. I know where to get my contact solution and perhaps some new glasses in the future!

On my way home, I stopped by a local bank to see if I would be able to open an account. She asked me to bring back my passport. No problem! I had to get groceries anyways.

 

I finished up my grocery list from yesterday at Edeka, another grocery store in the area. On the way, I stopped by a bike store that the Hausmeister recommended in order to get a lock for my new bike. It was another great experience and I got the chance to try out my German again.

I had picked up my passport and was ready to open my account! Unfortunately, today was NOT the day for me to open a bank account. As I haven't yet updated my visa, I have to wait. Oh, well! Worth a try.
 

Dinner tonight? Seasoned chicken and veggies on rice with a mozzarella and tomato salad. Yum!

I also had a chance to take some pictures of my living space :)

My desk area, complete with computer.

Behind my desk is my small shower, sink, and dresser.

Across the room is my bed, as well as a small table.

My little bathroom is down the hall from me. One difference between American and German toilets - there is a lot less water in the toilet bowl! Just a fun fact :)

This is my little closet kitchen! It's so small, but it works just fine for me.

 

Bedtime is about the same tonight. Hopefully I don't sleep in nearly as much tomorrow.